Mexican Hot Dog Torta

I’m a huge fan of the Mexican torta. It is a sandwich unlike any other. Well, there are plenty of awesome sandwiches to he tried, that is for sure, but the Mexican torta is a top contender to many. Why do I say this? Well, because the Mexican torta is simple to make, has a base of great and healthy ingredients (for the most part), and can be eaten any time of the day.

I first encountered the torta in Wisconsin, believe it or not. I lived in Dallas for many years and you would have thought I would have eaten a torta in Tex Mex country, but that was not the case. I first experienced the torta at a Mexican supermarket known as El Rey. They have a small restaurant inside that makes some awesome food. As I initially steer towards authentic tacos, I decided to take on the torta. Wow, was I ever surprised. It was a sandwich, sure, but it was a sandwich, when taken a bite of, that just had everything you would expect in a delicious bite. There was texture, and flavor written all over it. As I typically go for the torta milanesa con pollo, or something else traditional, I decided to make something different this past week, the torta with hot dogs.

A couple of my kids are huge fans of the hot dogs. I always buy the all beef wieners as I think they are much better flavored, and have less parts if you know what I mean. The hot dog doesn’t scare me as it might some people who think that every wiener is packed full of parts and stuff. I tune that all of that out, because when biting into a hot dog, well, you end up with a great snap of casing, and some saltiness which gets balanced with other ingredients. Enough said, let’s get you making this torta.

Ingredients:

• 1 Bolillo roll, sliced
• 4 tbsp refried beans, cooked
• 2 whole hot dogs, all beef, cooked
• 1/2 cup of queso quesadilla, melted (Queso oaxaca or soft melting cheese)
• 1/2 cup of shredded lettuce
• 1 small avocado, halved

To start, prepare all of your ingredients. I first boil my hot dogs in a bit of water to fully cook them, then I slice them in half, but not all of the way through. Once halved, drain the water and return them back to the skillet and sear them; caramelizing them for the most part. Once they caramelize, you need to remove them from the heat. Remove the hot dogs and add in the queso quesadilla, or the soft Mexican cheese. Let this sit there and melt. Don’t worry if it burns, it will be fine.

Now we build the torta.

Take your sliced bolillo roll and to the bottom of the base slice, spread the warm and cooked refried beans. Cover the bottom roll. Next, top with the sliced hot dogs. Add the melted cheese to the top of the hot dogs, top with the shredded lettuce, and cover that with the avocado. Feel free to mash the avocado if you want. My avocado was soft and perfect and did not need to be mashed. I was content with it.

Feel free to slice it on the diagonal, or feel free to to add the top piece, give it a gentle press, and dig right in. As I was asking a former colleague the proper way to define the to torta in terms of Torta de perrito caliente, or Hot Dog Torta, or something other, his response was “Hot Dog Torta”,  and used the word “gross”. I will have to say, I’m going out and calling this the Hot Dog Torta, or maybe Awesome Hot Dog Torta.

This sandwich is great. It’s got the creaminess around the exterior, saltiness in the interior, and the crunch from the lettuce. If you are looking to try a new sandwich, give this one a shot.